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Certifications

Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN®)

Are you ready to enhance your professional credibility and enjoy the feeling of personal accomplishment that comes from being certified? If you meet the criteria listed below, take the test for an oncology certified nurse and become recognized for your specialty knowledge in oncology nursing.

View Eligibility Criteria for Initial Certification

The following eligibility criteria must be met at the time of application and examination.

A current, active, unencumbered license as a registered nurse in the US, its territories or Canada at the time of application and examination.

A minimum of one year (12 months) of experience as an RN within the three years (36 months) prior to application, and

A minimum of 1,000 hours of adult oncology nursing practice within the two-and-one-half years (30 months) prior to application. Nursing practice may be in clinical practice, nursing administration, education, research or consultation. To qualify as nursing practice, the role must require it be filled only by a Registered Nurse.

Completed a minimum of 10 contact hours of continuing nursing education in oncology or an academic elective in oncology nursing within the three years (36 months) prior to application. The contact hours must have been provided or formally approved by an acceptable accredited provider or approver of continuing nursing education. A maximum of five of the 10 required contact hours in oncology may be continuing medical education (CME) in oncology.

Applying for certification

The certification test is a three-hour, 165 multiple-choice item test based on the OCN® Test Content Outline (Test Blueprint). The Blueprint was created after the results of a role delineation study of basic adult oncology nursing practice conducted in 2012.

The OCN® Test Content Outline includes nine major subject areas, each with a percentage assigned to it. Many nurses who have passed the test tell us the Test Content Outline was essential in helping them know what areas to study. Remember, only generic drug names are used on ONCC tests. Once you pass the test, your certification is valid for four years.

Note: If you’re eligible to test, you’ll receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) within 4 weeks of applying. This ATT will open an almost-immediate 90-day testing window. You must take the test within that 90-day window.

Test Dates, Application Deadlines and Fees

OCN®, CPHON®, AOCNP®, AOCNS®, CBCN®, and BMTCN®

Testing in the US/Canada

* Candidates who apply after September 15, 2017 may not be accommodated, or may be accommodated in a test period of less than 90 days. Candidates who accept an abbreviated eligibility period may have limited choices of test dates and locations.

International Testing

** International testing is available in November only. A $75 international test site fee is included in fees shown above. International candidates who do not hold a US license must have their license evaluated for US equivalency.

Maintaining your certification

You should be very proud that you’ve passed the certification test! In order to keep your certification, you need to earn points for certification renewal by completing Continuing Education, Continuing Medical Education, Academic Education credits, or have work published in publications or give presentations. Follow this step-by-step guide to maintain your certification.

1. Determine where to log your information.If you passed a test in 2012 or later, use your Learning Plan on LearningBuilder. If you renewed via ONC-PRO in 2012 to 2015, you must first take an assessment to determine how many points you’ll need. After you assess, you will be notified that your Learning Plan is available for tracking your points.

2. Plan your professional development.Your assessment results or test score report will tell you the subject areas and number of professional development points – ranging from 25 to 100 – you’ll need to renew your certification.

3. Select the necessary subjects.Use your score report or assessment results to see which subject areas you need further professional development. Then, refer back to the current Test Content Outline (Test Blueprint) to help you identify whether a program is in the subject area you need.

4. Enter your points on your Learning Plan on LearningBuilder.Make sure you keep track of all of your information, as you earn the points, in your Learning Plan on the new online tracking tool called LearningBuilder.

5. Keep all documentation.We strongly urge you to record your points as they are earned. Keep copies of all grade reports, copies of publications, program descriptions, educational objectives, and outlines, in case ONCC asks to review them.

Candidates Who Are Renewing by Option 3 (ILNA Points + Testing)

Candidates who are using renewal Option 3 (ILNA Points + Testing) should submit both the application and Learning Plans by the test application deadline date. Option 3 candidates must submit a test application and Learning Plan at the same time.